Marriage Lite Relationship Recognition in Wisconsin Colorado and Maine

chapter 2  | Marriage and Marriage-equivalent relationships |  53
Also, although you can use a prepartnership agreement to divide
property and money, and even define support obligations toward each
other, you can’t make agreements in advance about child support,
and you can’t make an agreement that releases either partner from the
obligation to pay support for a child for whom the person is legally
responsible.
Resource
You can get a head start on your prepartnership agreement. You
and your partner can sit down together and think about what you would want
in an agreement, and even do a first draft of the agreement yourselves, before
taking it to separate attorneys for review and finalization. Check out Prenuptial
Agreements: How to Write a Fair & Lasting Contract, by Katherine E. Stoner and
Shae Irving. This book will help you figure out whether you need an agreement,
take you through the steps of deciding what you might want in it, and help you
figure out how to find and work with lawyers.
If you are already registered but are concerned that you might not want
all of the provisions of the new law to apply to you, you can try preparing
a postpartnership agreement. However, be particularly careful to find
an attorney who is knowledgeable in this area. Postnuptial agreements
are strongly disfavored by courts, and have even stricter rules than
prepartnership agreements.
Marriage Lite: Relationship Recognition in
Wisconsin, Colorado, and Maine
Colorado was one of the most recent states to come on board with
some form of relationship recognition for same-sex couples, opting
also for a watered-down version. And Maine is the most heartbreaking
story, beginning with its initial passage of a limited form of domestic
partnership, then briefly flirting with a legislatively imposed marriage law,
overturned by the voters, putting the state back at square one—a limited
54  |  A Legal guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples
form of domestic partnership. Wisconsin has a similarly limited domestic
partnership law.
Colorado’s Reciprocal Beneficiaries Law
As of July 2009, Colorado has a reciprocal beneficiaries law, allowing
couples to designate each other as beneficiaries and to choose from a list
of rights by initialing an agreement form that’s set out in the law. This
creates a permanent record of what the partners have agreed to. (This
is an exception to the rule that we keep reminding you of, that in most
states you must meet rigorous standards for a prenuptial agreement
that sets out your choices about these rights. It’s also different from
a prenuptial agreement in that it’s part of the public record once you
file it with the county clerk.) You can choose among the following
rights: avoiding probate through trusts; designating beneficiaries under
public employee benefits plans or, in some cases, private plans; owning
property in the same joint form used by married couples; having priority
as a conservator or the like; hospital visitation and the right to make
anatomical gifts and decide on body disposition after death; inheritance
if one partner dies without a will; workers’ compensation; and rights to
bring an action for the wrongful death of a partner. You can terminate
your reciprocal beneficiary relationship by using a form provided by the
state.
Wisconsin’s Domestic Partnership Law
In Wisconsin, domestic partnership is limited to same-sex couples, and
requires only that the partners both be over 18, live together, and not
be closely related or married (or domestically partnered) to anyone else.
Domestic partners don’t have all the same rights as married couples in
Wisconsin, but the rights they do have aren’t insignificant—they include
inheritance rights, a presumption that partners hold property as joint
tenants, and the ability to sue for wrongful death of a partner, along with
a number of other rights.